Former Sunderland goalkeeper Tim Carter has been found dead after what appeared to be a suicide, it was announced Saturday.

He was reported missing from his home in Durham, north-east England, early on Thursday morning before his body was discovered by a passer-by later in the day in Manchester.

According to reports he was found with rope around his neck, leading to suggestions that Carter may have hanged himself.

"Shortly after 12pm (1100GMT) on Thursday June 19 police were called to Highfield Close in Stretford following reports of a body found," a spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said Saturday.

"Officers attended and found the body of a 40-year-old man. There are not believed to be any suspicious circumstances."

Durham police said Carter's family had raised concerns about his well-being before his body was discovered.

"Durham Police can confirm that members of Mr Carter's family had first raised concerns for his safety in the early hours of Thursday," said a force spokesman on Saturday.

"On information available at the time, officers from this force had been liaising directly with colleagues from Greater Manchester Police who in their turn carried out extensive inquiries in their area throughout that day."

Carter, recently appointed as Sunderland's academy goalkeeping coach, was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination is now due to take place next week.

He played 50 games for the Premier League club between 1987 and 1992.

Carter was the first-team goalkeeping coach before the arrival of former Manchester United star keeper Raimond Van Der Gouw last year and also coached Estonia's national team goalkeepers on a part-time basis.

Capped three times by the England youth team in 1985, Carter made his Football League debut for Bristol Rovers, his local team, aged just 18.

He joined Sunderland on Christmas Eve in 1987 and also played for Newport, Carlisle, Birmingham, Hartlepool, Millwall, Blackpool and Oxford before going into coaching.